So we have all (hopefully) had time to play through the new Living Story chapter kicking off Season 3 of the Living World. There were many oohs and ahhs to be had, especially if you played the story in Guild Wars Prophecies, but the new chapter may have left more questions than answers for some. For me the start of the chapter was a nice recap of what has passed and a forecast of what is to come. Although Arenanet surely did not tip their hand, they did leave enough crumbs for us all to speculate about what will happen next! I spent a lot of time combing through the content and now I humbly present my updated theory. If you missed the first theory I presented on the Podcast you can find Episode 13 of the show HERE.
Be advised, there are plenty of spoilers ahead. You have been warned!
The Dragons
I always start with the Dragons because it has long been stated that there is no greater threat to Tyria than the Elder Dragons. That includes Caudecus, Lazarus, the Krytan Crown, ley energy, the release of Magic (although this is number 2 on the list), and anything else thrown at us in this intro. If we are to take what Taimi shared in the closing seconds of the first chapter of season 3 to heart, Primordus will be the next Dragon we fight. That just doesn’t make any sense to me. Don’t get me wrong, we are currently closet to Primordus than we are any other Dragon but there are a number of things to consider before we can definitively proclaim which Dragon we will fight next.
We also have to consider the over abundance of Magic in Tyria. With each Elder Dragons death, more Magic is released that the other Dragons cannot consume fast enough. Our heroic Guild “Dragon Watch” has pulled out the pebble that started the boulder to roll down the hill and that boulder is rolling straight towards all of Tyria. We are in a conundrum, if we kill the Dragons it is possible that enough magic will be released to destroy Tyria, and I stress possible. It is certain though that if we leave the Dragons to their work they will most definitely destroy every living thing on the planet as they have in the past. Each choice has a damning consequence, but the final outcome of releasing the magic is unsure. Since we started these events we will have no choice but to finish them, plunging headlong to their conclusion no matter what the consequences may be.
But Primordus is the next Dragon threat? Why now? Primordus was the first Dragon to awaken over 250 years ago and now it is finally “active”? It was just chilling for all that time, eating burgers and catching up on the TV shows it missed over the past 10,000 years? Sorry to disappoint, but no. Our favorite Asura only confirmed what we all already knew. Primordus is active yes, but so are all the other Dragons. They have been active for a very long time. With the exception of Bubbles/Steve we have seen and fought Dragon spawn from all of the Elder Dragons and it is quite possible that the Chak may be Steve’s minions. They do resemble the Karka (at least to me). The question is, is Primordus active because it is still engaged in battle with the Stone Dwarves or has Primordus destroyed all of them so that now, after 250+ years it can focus on all the races of Tyria. If the answer is yes and the Dwarves have all been destroyed, then Anet took a shortcut IMHO. That is a story that we as players should experience not read about after the fact or be told about by the last remaining Dwarf.
So what is really happening with the Dragons, there was no mention of any other Elder Dragon being “active” in this story, only Primordus right? By name yes, but before we continue with the Dragons we have to ask another question.
Where is Braham?
In this chapter we saw not hide nor hair of Braham, not even at his mother’s memorial. He was so saddened and filled with regret by Eir’s death that we would expect him to be there. Do you recall where Knutt said he was? He was killing Jourmag’s minions in the Northern Shiverpeaks. You may think that this doesn’t matter much but this carries serious weight when you look at the big picture. Most Norn that venture to the mountains north return as Sons a Svanir. Only one has returned unchanged with what he called Jourmag’s tooth, which I have always questioned the validity of the tale. Norn simply avoid the Northern Shiverpeaks unless they wander off on an alcohol induced frenzy from which they never returned.
We must also consider the reason that Jourmag has yet to venture south to finish what it started with the Norn when it awoke. I believe that Jourmag encountered the Kodan and Norn, the only races settled in the North, when it rose. It has been stated that the it easily defeated both races and pushed them well south of their homelands. Maybe Jourmag assumed they were so weak that they could wait for their destruction while it took the opportunity to set up shop. Eir, with the help of Snaff and Zojja, was the only Norn to truly challenge Jourmag’s Champion and the group was nearly destroyed. Now here comes this new, rage filled Norn seeking vengeance for his slain Mother. It is pretty safe to assume that Braham could easily kill Jourmag’s untested champions alone. Although this may catch the Dragon’s attention it would not consider one Norn a threat. My guess is Jourmag would try to tempt Braham with power if he would simply serve the Dragon. We can be sure that Braham would never accept any offer from the enemy, but Braham will surely return from the North much more powerful than when he left. I am sure Braham will come back with a new profession or possibly even master two professions, similar to Guild Wars 1. Maybe Braham will come back as a Dragonhunter but that just seems a little weak to me. I feel that in his grief, Braham will become a Ranger, like his mother, while retaining his Guardian skills creating the new hybrid.
It is not that far fetched for Anet to give us a two profession system again especially since the first 5 skills are based on weapons and the last 5 skills are based on the profession and/or race. This can be much more easily managed and balanced in GW2’s current trait system then it could in the original Guild Wars. A dual profession system could allow access to weapons not currently available to a profession and possibly a mixture of skills in classes creating new skills. Braham wouldn’t be the first character in game to accomplish this. Traherne was a Necromancer but at times he seemed to be able to use Mesmer and Elementalist abilities. Traherne was considered Legendary in Rank, but doesn’t killing two Elder Dragons earn that same rank?
So let’s continue, Braham’s refusal to join Jourmag may not be enough to draw the Dragon’s gaze to the south but, let’s not forget there is also a whole city of mourning, frustrated, probably drunk Norn who are united in losing their most revered champion. They also just got a pretty inspiring and motivating speech from our player character who did what Eir could not, kill two Elder Dragon’s. This is all enough to get them moving North. The Norn always sought glory individually but I’m sure they are now motivated to unite in order to banish this Elder Dragon from their homelands. If they also venture north to join in the fun with Braham, that would be enough to draw the attention of Jourmag and bring it’s fury down upon the Norn as well as the neighboring Krytan and Charr Capitals. This is a powder keg that does not have a long fuse and as I see it Jourmag has to be next on Dragon Watch’s list. Maybe the hint from Taimi is just a distraction, or maybe it is an indication that both Jourmag and Primordus will attack at once and be the next focus of the upcoming expansion. I firmly believe that it is planned for us to fight two Elder Dragons at the same time at some point to accelerate the Dragon’s story arc. I am pretty sure there is no better time to do that in the story then now. I fully expect to see both Jourmag and Primordus in the next expansion (GW2:Fire and Ice 😄)
How Does Caudecus, Lazarus, and the White Mantle Fit In?
Well this is the question. Why did Caudecus show his hand now? Why did Lazarus choose to rise now after 300 years? How did we allow the White Mantle to cause the Bloodstone to explode? This is the tricky part of the current story, and I’ll be honest, I don’t have this all worked out yet; but, I do feel I have a solid theory.
I believe Caudecus latched on to the White Mantle because of his similar beliefs within Tyria on a Political level. He also needs an army to steal the throne of Kryta from Queen Jenna. He hates the Charr and the Monarchy as much as the White Mantle does and feels that Humans should eradicate them both. I don’t believe Caudecus ever put stock into the “Unseen Gods”. He may have tolerated discussion about them but I feel if he did it was only because it kept the most loyal White Mantle under his thumb and he believed they were extinct anyway so no harm no foul. Caudecus; however, is a short sighted fool and he jumped the gun too early. He definitely made several errors to set himself back from claiming the Krytan throne and has demonstrated that in his rush to be the new King of Kryta he makes too many mistakes to be considered a big threat to Tyria; but, he is enough of a threat to tie up the Shining Blade for now.
Lazarus rose after absorbing a millennia of bloodstone energy and then called Caudecus a heretic and a snake-tongued deceiver, wiped out those that were loyal to Caudecus and left with those loyal to him in a blink of an eye. Before his jaunt to who knows where he declared that there are more righteous pursuits for the White Mantle beyond the Krytan Crown. Keep in mind, this is the same Lazarus the Dire that swore vengeance for “countless generations” on those that destroyed the Mursaat. If you don’t recall who was at the brunt of that threat, it was the Humans. Lazarus may have absorbed a ton of magic from the bloodstone, but I doubt it made him strong enough to fight the Elder Dragons head on. To be honest, that just isn’t the Mursaat’s style. It is well documented that the Mursaat prefer to hide in the shadows and recruit the weak minded to die for them rather than risk death themselves. Lazarus also stated that he is the last of the Mursaat. I am speculating that the “more virtuous pursuits” for the White Mantle in Lazarus’ opinion is to resurrect all the Mursaat or at least as many of them as he can and to do that he needs magic, about a bloodstones worth.
In the big picture, this has left the White Mantle split and weakened causing both Team Lazarus and Team Caudecus to both try to advance their own agendas, keeping the story moving at a much slower pace in the background and leaving the Dragons in the foreground where they belong. Both characters will still have an active role in the story as it unfolds through this season but they will have no real impact once we set our sights on the Dragon. Fear not though, I am speculating that at the very least Caudecus will be dead before the new Expansion releases.
So how does all this relate to the current living story? In my opinion this is all just filler story gated with the usual checks and balances. Neither Caudecus nor Lazarus can advance their cause quickly because their forces are now halved. Each faction will wrestle the other for power over the White Mantle and it could go on for as long as the Narrative team needs it to. They just needed to refresh this story arc before moving forward, think of it as refreshing siege in WvW. The story “timer” was about to expire and the Anet lore wizards refreshed it before it disappeared completely. I feel this story, as well as the other open or dropped story arcs, will pop up from time to time but I fully believe it will be filler for the downtime in the Dragon’s story arc.
Overpowered Magics
So it would appear that the current state of the released magic is a bigger threat than the Elder Dragons. We have only killed two Dragons and we are already plagued with random anomalies, bloodstone infused baddies, and visible ley energy. The magic is chaotic and plentiful right now and if we continue killing the Dragons it will only get worse. Well I have to admit, it does seem that way. Believe it or not this is a good thing.
I am still convinced that the Six Human Gods will replace the Dragons and become the new keepers of Tyria’s magic. As I stated before, I don’t believe that the Elder Dragons were always menacing creatures hell bent on destroying the entirety of Tyria. It is plain to see that the magic of Tyria is what is chaotic and I think over time, the Elder Dragons were corrupted by the magic and turned from benevolent creatures to madness itself.
The Humans claimed the Six as their Gods, but it appears that they have lost interest in humans. Where have they been since they left Orr and the Humans were pushed back into Kryta by the Charr? I am sure we will see that when Tyria defeats Primordus and Jourmag in the next expansion, the Six will return to not only control the overpowered magic of Tyria, but help all the races defeat the remaining Dragons and take up their charge.
So, if you made it this far, thanks for hanging in there through this wall of text. The outcome of the story, the fate of the Dragons, and the fate of Tyria remains to be seen. I do not feel this theory is the only possible outcome, but I do feel there is enough evidence to support that these events are the most likely to transpire. To me this seems to be the most sound way for Arenanet to close the Dragons story arc and progress beyond them. One last point of my theory, I believe that once all of the Dragons have been defeated, Arenanet will announce the launch date of Guild Wars 3. I’ll just let that sit there. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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